Wednesday, 27 November 2013

General Knowledge Update-1. First Islamic Bank in Eurozone to come up in Luxembourg

i. A host of private investors from GCC countries, including a royal family from the UAE have planned to set up the first full-fledged Islamic bank in the euro zone.

ii. The Eurisbank will come up in Luxembourg during the last quarter of 2014. An announcement to this effect was made on the sidelines of Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai.
iii. The Excellencia Investment Management group said that with an initial capital of $80m, the bank would offer retail, corporate and private banking services, and would open branches in Paris, Brussels, the Netherlands and Frankfurt.
iv. In addition to the royal family from the UAE, Eurisbank will be owned by a bank from a GCC country and other private investor.
v. Islamic finance has been slow to develop in Europe, but Luxembourg has successfully marketed itself as a center for issuing and trading Islamic bonds.

General Knowledge Update-2. Iran and world powers reach interim deal on nuclear program
i. An interim agreement has been reached between six world powers and Iran that calls on Tehran to limit its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief from international trade and financial sanctions.
ii. The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran's nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.

iii. The Geneva deal releases just over $4bn in Iranian oil sales revenue from frozen accounts, and suspends restrictions on the country's trade in gold, petrochemicals, car and plane parts.

In return, Iran undertakes to restrict its nuclear activities. Over the next six months it has agreed to:
i. stop enriching uranium above 5%, reactor-grade, and dilute its stock of 20%-enriched
ii. not to increase its stockpile of low-enrichment uranium.
iii. freeze its enrichment capacity by not installing any more centrifuges, leaving more than half of its existing 16,000 centrifuges inoperable.
iv. accept more intrusive nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, including daily visits to some facilities.

General Knowledge Update-3. Ireland and Afghanistan qualified for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014
i. Ireland and Afghanistan on 24 November 2013 qualified for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014 after winning their respective matches in the qualifiers at Dubai.
ii. Ireland defeated Hongkong by 85 runs while Afghanistan beat Kenya by 34 runs to qualify as the top teams from the two groups.
iii. The remaining four teams will be decided after a series of matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The contestants include Nepal, UAE, Hongkong, Namibia, Scotland, Netherlands, Italy and Papua New Guinea.
iv. The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh from 16 March 2014 to 6 April 2014 and a total of 16 teams are participating in this tournament.

General Knowledge Update-4. Singapore think tank signs MoU with Brookings India
i. The Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) has signed an MoU with Brookings India, one of South Asia’s leading think tanks.
ii. The MoU, signed at the South Asian Diaspora Convention, would have ISAS and Brookings India work collaboratively on areas such as international trade and economics, India-China comparative studies, international relations and India’s energy security options.
iii. These initiatives would include faculty exchanges in various fields, said ISAS, a Singapore think tank in the National University of Singapore.
iv. The two organisations would also work together on bilateral seminars, symposiums and panel discussions on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
v. The MoU follows swiftly on the heels of ISAS’ recent partnership with the South Asian Archive, which provides access to culturally and historically significant literary materials produced in and around the South Asia region.

General Knowledge Update-5. Ireland and Afghanistan qualified for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014
i. Ireland and Afghanistan on 24 November 2013 qualified for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014 after winning their respective matches in the qualifiers at Dubai.
ii. Ireland defeated Hongkong by 85 runs while Afghanistan beat Kenya by 34 runs to qualify as the top teams from the two groups.
iii. The remaining four teams will be decided after a series of matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The contestants include Nepal, UAE, Hongkong, Namibia, Scotland, Netherlands, Italy and Papua New Guinea.
iv. The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh from 16 March 2014 to 6 April 2014 and a total of 16 teams are participating in this tournament.

General Knowledge Update-6.Nirupama Rao named visiting fellow at Brown University
i. Nirupama Rao, the former Indian Ambassador to the US, has been named as the ‘Meera and Vikram Gandhi Fellow’ with the Brown-India initiative at the Watson Institute for International Studies.
ii. Rao, who till early this month was India’s top envoy in the US, would use her one-year term at Brown University to write a book, the university said in a statement today.
iii. It said Rao has been named as the Meera and Vikram Gandhi Fellow with the Brown-India Initiative at the Watson Institute for International Studies.
iv. She was also the first woman spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

General Knowledge Update-7. Google, KKR to invest $400 m on solar projects
i. Internet giant Google and investment firm KKR will invest $400 million in six solar plants in California and Arizona, the companies announced on Thursday.
ii. The plants are currently being developed and are expected to be operational by January 2014. They will be managed by Recurrent Energy, a California solar developer.
iii. The companies plan to sell the electricity to municipal users and local utilities, including Southern California Edison. Five of the plants are in southern California and the sixth is in Arizona.
iv. A Google spokeswoman said the total investment in the projects is $400 million, but the exact breakdown between the companies was not disclosed.
v. The three firms in December 2011 announced a separate plan to build four solar plants near Sacramento, California.

General Knowledge Update-8. Super Typhoon Haiyan batters central Philippines
i. Typhoon Haiyan is battering the central Philippines with sustained winds of 314 kilometres an hour.
ii. Meteorologists say that if initial estimates based on satellite images are borne out, it could be the most powerful storm ever to make landfall. Officials say the storm has forced millions to seek shelter in 20 provinces and at least three people have died.
iii. The region was already struggling to recover from a powerful earthquake last month. The authorities have warned that more than 12 million people are at risk from the storm.

General Knowledge Update-9. Bharat Joshi is new British Dy High Commissioner
i. Bharat Joshi is the new British Deputy High Commissioner to be based in Chennai, replacing Mike Nithavrianakis.
ii. Born in Croydon in the UK in 1969, Joshi joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1995 and has had diplomatic postings to Gambia, Dhaka, Qatar and Cameroon, it said.
iii. Based in Chennai since September 2013, Joshi’s portfolio focuses on enhancing the trade and investment partnership between the UK and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, in specific, it added.